Just days before kickoff, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made sure their quarterback wouldn’t be playing for his next contract this season. On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the team and Baker Mayfield agreed on a $165 million, three-year contract extension, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to the Associated Press. The agreement comes just days before the Buccaneers’ Week 1 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Numbers
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported that Mayfield landed a three-year, $165 million deal. Per Rapoport, that works out to roughly $55 million per year — a substantial raise from his previous deal. Mayfield had been playing on a three-year, $100 million contract, which carried an average annual value of $33.3 million, 16th among NFL quarterbacks at the time.
A Deal That Almost Didn’t Happen
The path to an extension was anything but smooth. Mayfield and the Buccaneers actually broke off extension talks in late July 2026, with the quarterback set to play out the final year of his existing contract without a new deal. Mayfield had set his own deadline for getting a new contract by the start of training camp, and reportedly felt “disrespected” when that deadline passed without one.
The two sides had already reworked Mayfield’s deal once before, when the Bucs restructured his contract in July to add guaranteed money for the 2026 season — though that move didn’t add years or additional overall value. General manager Jason Licht had signaled the team’s intentions well before that, telling The Athletic‘s Jeff Howe that he wanted Mayfield to stay in Tampa Bay long-term and that an extension would come “when the time is right.”
Despite Mayfield indicating he didn’t plan to negotiate further once camp began, the two sides ultimately came back together and got a deal done under a week before the season opener.
Mayfield’s Tampa Bay Renaissance
The extension caps a remarkable turnaround for Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He revived his career in Tampa Bay after replacing Tom Brady in 2023, following a rocky stretch that saw him traded from Cleveland to Carolina in 2022, then claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams later that same season.
Since arriving in Tampa on a modest one-year “show-me” deal, Mayfield has been one of the league’s better values at the position:
- 2023–24: Made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons with the Buccaneers while leading the team to consecutive NFC South titles.
- 2024 season: Posted career highs across the board — 4,500 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, and a 71.4% completion percentage — while helping Tampa Bay return to the playoffs.
- 2025 season: A step back for both player and team. Mayfield threw for 3,693 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while dealing with biceps and shoulder injuries, as the Buccaneers missed the playoffs at 8-9, ending a four-year run atop the NFC South. Still, he actually climbed a spot in ESPN’s QBR rankings to 12th, and his overall stock didn’t drop significantly — a season complicated by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin combining for just 17 games played.
What It Means
The extension keeps the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback from reaching free agency after the 2026 season and sends a clear signal from the organization: Baker Mayfield is their quarterback for the foreseeable future. For a Buccaneers team looking to reclaim the NFC South after a down 2025, locking in stability at quarterback right before kickoff removes a major distraction and lets Mayfield — and the franchise — focus on getting back to the playoffs.
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